The Sealed Nectar (58 page)

When his headquarters, Madinah, began to loom at the horizon, the Prophet [pbuh]

said: "This is a cheerful sight. This is Uhud, which is a mountain, we like it and it likes us." When the Madinese learnt of their arrival they set out to meet the army.

Women, youths, youngsters and small children went out of town to celebrate their home- return wholeheartedly singing:

"The full moon shone down upon us, through the traits of Al- Wada‘

Mountain.

Thanks is due to us, as long as a supplicator invokes to Allâh.."

The Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] ’s march to Tabuk was in Rajab and his return in Ramadan. So we see that this
Ghazwah
took fifty days, twenty days of which were spent in Tabuk and the others on the way to and fro. Tabuk Invasion was the last one made by the Prophet [pbuh].

The People Who lagged Behind

Due to its particular circumstances, this invasion was a peculiar severe trial provided by Allâh only to try the believers’Faith and sort them out of others. This is Allâh’s permanent Will in such circumstances. In this respect He says:

"Allâh will not leave the believers in the state in which you are now, until He
distinguishes the wicked from the good."
[Al- Qur'an 3:179]

Lagging and hanging back from full participation in that invasion amounted to the degree of hypocrisy. Whenever the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] was informed of a man’s lingering, he would say: "Leave him alone! If Allâh knows him to be good He will enable him to follow you; but if he were not so, Allâh would relieve us of him."

Nobody stayed behind except those who were either hindered by a serious excuse or the hypocrites who told lies to Allâh and His Messenger.

Some of those hypocrites’ lingering was due to an excuse based on forgery and delusion. Some others tarried but didn’t ask for an instant permission. But there were three believers who unjustifiably lingered. They were the ones whom Allâh tried their Faith, but later on He turned to them in mercy and accepted their repentance.

As soon as the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] had entered Madinah, he prayed two
Rak‘a
then he sat to receive his people. The hypocrites who were over eighty men [Fath Al-Bari 8/119] came and offered various kinds of excuses and started swearing. The Prophet acknowledged their excuses and invoked Allâh’s forgiveness for them but he entrusted their inner thoughts and Faith to Allâh.

278

MSA NIU

As for the three faithful believers — Ka‘b bin Malik, Murara bin Ar- Rabi‘, and Hilal bin Omaiyah — who favoured telling the truth, the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] bade his Companions not to talk to them.

Consequently they were subject to a severe boycott and were excluded from the life of the community. Everybody turned them their back. So they felt as if the whole land had become constrained to them in spite of its spaciousness and they felt awkward and uneasy. The hard times they lived and which lasted for over forty days were towered by an order to them to forsake their wives. After fifty days’ boycott Allâh turned to them and revealed that in Qur’ân:

"And (He did forgive also) the three (whom the Prophet Õáì Çááå Úáíå æ
Óáã) left (i.e. he did not give his judgement in their case, and their case was
suspended for Allâh’s Decision) till for them the earth, vast as it is, was
straitened and their ownselves were straitened to them, and they perceived
that there is no fleeing from Allâh, and no refuge but with Him. Then, He
accepted their repentance, that they might repent (unto Him). Verily, Allâh
is the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful."
[Al- Qur'an 9:118]

Allâh’s turning to them was a great joy for both Muslims and the three concerned.

The joy of the stayers behind was unaccountable in aim and degree. It was the happiest day in their lives. The good tiding cherished them and filled their hearts with delight. As for those who lingered due to disability or sickness or any other serious excuse, Allâh, the Exalted said about them:

"There is no blame on those who are weak or ill or who find no resources to
spend [in holy warfare (
Jihad
)], if they are sincere (in duty) to Allâh and His
Messenger."
[Al- Qur'an 9:91]

When he approached Madinah, the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] said:

"Inside Madinah, there are certain men, who though being left back due to
serious excuses, they have, all the time, been with you. Lingerers as they
are, they have been while you were passing valleys or walking along roads."

"Do you mean that they have done that while they are still in Madinah?"

They wondered. "Yes though they are in Madinah." The Prophet said.

The Invasion of Tabuk and its Far-Reaching Ramifications
The effect of this invasion is great as regards extending and confirming the Muslims’

influence and domination on the Arabian Peninsula. It was quite obvious to everybody that no power but Islam’s would live long among the Arabs. The remainders of
Jahiliyin
and hypocrites — who used to conspire steadily against the Muslims and who perpetually relied on Byzantine power when they were in need of support or help — these people lost their expectations and desires of ever reclaiming their ex- influence. Realizing that there was no way out and that they were to submit to the
fait accompli
, they gave up their attempts.

From that time on, hypocrites were no longer treated leniently or even gently by the Muslims. Allâh not only bade Muslims to treat them severely but He also forbade them to take their gift charities or perform prayer on their dead, or ask Allâh’s 279

MSA NIU

forgiveness for them or even visit their tombs. Allâh bade the Muslims to demolish the mosque, which they verily appointed and used as a hiding place where they might practise their plots, conspiracy and deceit. Some Qur’ânic verses were sent down disclosing them publicly and utterly so that everybody in Madinah got to know their reality.

The great impact that this invasion produced could be perceived in of the great number of delegations who came successively to meet the Messenger of Allâh

[pbuh]. Naturally, deputations used to come to meet him at the end of an invasion particularly after Makkah Conquest [Ibn Hisham 2/515- 537; Za'd Al- Ma'ad 3/2- 13; Sahih Al- Bukhari 2/633,635- 637, 1/252, 414; Fath Al- Bari 8/110- 126; Mukhtasar Seerat Ar- Rasool p.391- 407] but they were not as many as these nor were they as frequent as they were then in the wake of Tabuk event. It was certainly the greatest.

The Qur’ânic Verses Relating to this Invasion

Many a verse of
Bara’a
(
Tauba
)
Chapter handling the event of Tabuk were revealed.

Some verses were revealed before the march, while others after setting out for Tabuk, i.e. in the context of the battle. Some other verses were also revealed on the Prophet’s arrival in Madinah. All of which covered the incidents that featured this invasion: the immanent circumstances of the battle, exposure of the hypocrites, the prerogatives and special rank earmarked for the strivers in the cause of Allâh, acceptance of the repentance of the truthful believers who slackened and those who hung back, etc.

Some Important Events that featured that Year

During this year many events of great significance took place. They were: 1. After the Messenger’s return from Tabuk, the sworn allegation of infidelity [In case of an infidelity accusation that lacks evidence, both husband and wife swear by Allah that they are innocent and did not commit infidelity. The Husband invokes Allah's curses on himself if he is lying and the women invokes Allah's wrath on her if she is lying] between ‘Uwaimir Al- ‘Ajlani and his wife took place.

2. Pelting with stones the Ghamidiyah woman who confessed committing adultery. She was pelted with stones only after weaning her child off her breast milk.

3. Negus Ashama; the king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), died so the Prophet [pbuh]

performed prayer in absentia for him.

4. The death of Umm Kulthum, the daughter of the Prophet [pbuh], the Prophet felt extremely sad at her death. "Had I got a third daughter, I would let you marry her." He said to ‘Uthman.

5. The death of ‘Abdullah bin Abi Salool, the head of hypocrites, after the Prophet’s return from Tabuk. The Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] asked Allâh’s forgiveness for him. He also prayed for him in spite of ‘Umar’s disapproval and his attempt to prevent him from doing that. Later on a Qur’ânic verse was revealed attesting to ‘Umar’s right viewpoint.

280

MSA NIU

Abu Bakr [R] performs the Pilgrimage

In the month Dhul- Qa‘dah or in Dhul- Hijjah of the very year (the ninth of Al- Hijra), the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] dispatched Abu Bakr [R], the truthful, as a deputy prince of
Al- Hajj
(pilgrimage), so that he would lead the Muslims in performing of the pilgrimage rituals.

Soon after the departure of the Muslims, there came a Revelation from Allâh: the opening passages of the Chapter 9 entitled ‘Repentance’ (
Surah Tauba
or
Bara’a
) in which ‘freedom from obligation’ is proclaimed from Allâh in regard to those idolatrous tribes who had shown no respect for the treaties which they had entered into with the Prophet [pbuh]. Communication of this news went in line with the Arabian traditions of making public any change relating to declining conventions of blood and fortunes.

‘Ali bin Abi Talib was deputed to make this declaration. He overtook Abu Bakr at Al-

‘Arj or Dajnan. Abu Bakr inquired whether the Prophet [pbuh] had put him in command or he had just been commissioned to make the announcement. "I have been deputed to make the proclamation only" replied ‘Ali. The two Companions then proceeded with the pilgrimage process. Towards the close of the rituals, on the day of the ritual sacrifice, ‘Ali stood at
Al- Jamrah
(a spot at which stones are pelted) and read aloud to the multitudes that thronged around him and declared quittance from covenants with idolaters and giving them four months’ respite to reconsider their position. As for the other idolaters with whom the believers had a treaty and had abated nothing of the Muslims’ rights nor had supported anyone against them, then the terms of the treaty would run valid until the duration of which expired.

Abu Bakr then sent some Muslims to declare publicly that no disbeliever would after that year perform pilgrimage, nor would anyone be allowed to make the
Tawaf
(going round) of the Sacred House unclothed.

That proclamation in fact vetoed all aspects of paganism out of Arabia and stated quite unequivocally that those pre- Islam practices were no longer in operation.[Sahih Al-Bukhari 1/220, 415, 2/626,671; Za'd Al-Ma'ad 3/25,26; Ibn Hisham 2/543-546]

281

MSA NIU

A Meditation on the Ghazawat

Meditation on the Prophet’s
Ghazawat
, missions, and the battalions he formed and dispatched, will certainly give us and everybody a true and clear impression that the Prophet [pbuh] was the greatest military leader in the whole world as well as the most righteous, the most insightful and the most alert one. He was not a man of superior genius for this concern but he was also the Master and the greatest of all Messengers as far as Prophethood and Heavenly Message are concerned. Besides, all the battles that he had fought were standard in their application to the requirements of strictness, bravery, and good arrangements that fitted the terms and conditions of war. None of the battles he fought was lost as a consequence of shortage of wisdom or due to any other technical error in army mobilization or a location in a wrong strategical position. The loss of any of his battle was not due to misjudgement about occupying the best and the most appropriate sites of battles, nor was it due to a mischoice of leaders of the fight, for he had proved himself to be a peculiar sort of leader that differs from any of those leaders that our world had known and experienced. As regards Uhud and Hunain events, there were consequences of weakness in some military elements in Hunain; and disobedience to orders in Uhud.

Their non- compliance with wisdom and the plan of the battle played a passive role in the course of those two invasions.

His genius was clearly shown in these two battles when the Muslims were defeated; for he stoodfast facing the enemy and managed, by his super wisdom, to thwart the enemy’s aim as was the case in Uhud. Similarly he managed to change the Muslims’

defeat in Hunain into a victory. Nothwithstanding the fact that serious grave developments in military operations usually leave the worst impression on the military leaders and entice them to flee for their lives.

We have, so far, discussed the mere aspects of military leadership of the invasions.

On the other hand, through these invasions he was able to impose security, institute peace, diffuse dissension and destroy the military might of the enemies through relentless struggle between Islam and paganism.

The Prophet had also profound insight and could differentiate the faithful from the hypocrites and plotters.

Great was the group of military leaders who fought and excelled the Persians and the Byzantines in the battlefields of Ash- Sham and Iraq with respect to war strategy and leading the fight procedures. The very leaders, who succeeded Muhammad [pbuh] , managed to drive off the enemies of Islam, from their lands and countries, their gardens and springs, and their farms. They drove them off their honourable residence and from the grace and provisions they owned and enjoyed. Those Muslim leaders were all Muhammad’s men. They were imbued with the spirit of Islam at the hand of the Prophet [pbuh].

Thanks to these battles, the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] managed accommodation, secured land and provided chances of work for all Muslims. He, even, made a lot of inquiries about the refugee problems who (then) had no houses or fortunes. He equipped the army with weapons, horses and expenditures. He had all that realized without exercising a particle weight of injustice. The Prophet [pbuh] has altered the standards and aims of pre- Islamic wars. Their war was no more than robbing, killing, plundering, tyranny and aggression- oriented wars. Those wars focused on winning 282